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From UB

In a higher education landscape marked by a shrinking student population and increasing uncertainty, institutional longevity—if not short term survival—is top of mind for most. What many at-risk institutions fail to see, however, is that a primary focus on competition is a precarious survival strategy that more often than not, backfires. Cooperation, not competition is the way out.

At Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science’s Innovation and Research Park in Chicago, the first building in what could be a multiphase development will generate an estimated 500 jobs and $117 million annually.

Eighteen states and dozens of local jurisdictions and institutions have established “promise programs” to make college free. A panel of educators and economists addressed program success at a recent FutureEd event.

An American Council on Education report finds that minority-serving schools move low-income students up from the lowest income brackets at two to three times the rates of non-minority-serving institutions.

Like their peers on campus, students enrolled in online programs benefit when they feel included in a community. Colleges cater to this population by offering in-person special events and extended office hours.

The mantra of “if you build it, they will come” has a bit of truth when recruiting international students to community colleges.

“The most fundamental thing that we do is make sure we’re providing quality programs, because the best way to attract new students is through word of mouth,” says Denise Kinsella, interim dean of the International Education Center at Santa Monica College in California.

Before an international student can receive an F-1 visa to study in the United States, the student must apply to the U.S. consulate in their home country with an I-20 Certificate of Eligibility.

It is the higher education institution’s responsibility to ensure that accepted international students have all of the necessary admission requirements prior to the designated school official issuing the I-20 certificate.

Each country has different lengths of time in which students wait for a visa to come to the United States.

What do you see as the biggest barrier to community colleges enrolling more international students?

“Community colleges need to focus not just on recruiting international students but retaining the ones already enrolled. Understanding who these students are and proactively engaging with them creates a stronger reputation and will ultimately attract more international students to that community college.”